Contents of GD316

Provenance of GD316

I do not know how the GD316 collection was made, or how it came to be in the National Records of Scotland. It’s probable that an examination of all the subsections in the collection would make this clearer. In particular, it is likely that the letters from the Rev. William Hulbert (GD316/21: “notes concerning the documents, 1955-1964”) would contain more information on this point. In the meantime, it seems likely that Patrick Matthew’s daughter Euphemia (1826-1915) was involved in keeping these records. She is mentioned as the keeper of the Oliphant genealogy by Millar (1890), and a copy of this genealogy is also listed in GD316/10. She was also consulted as a source of Matthew family history by Calman (1912). Also, one of the scans in GD316/16 is of an envelope addressed to “Miss Matthew, Errol Park Cottage”, which is where Euphemia lived in later life.

It’s unclear who drew the tree and when, but it includes PM’s grandchildren so it is likely to be contemporaneous with that generation. The tree starts with PM’s paternal grandfather (also called Patrick Matthew), who had 6 children including John Matthew, father of PM. It appears that PM had 5 sisters: Margaret, Catherine, Euphemia, Jane and Agnes, but no brothers. It is known that PM and his wife Christian were first cousins (see, for example, Calman (1912)). In another example of a first-cousin marriage, PM’s sister Euphemia is marked as having married her cousin Thomas Patrick Matthew (son of John Matthew’s brother Thomas). There are no birth or death dates given in this tree.

We can now relate this tree to information on Patrick Matthew’s burial register. The photocopy of the page of the original register of burials in Errol burying ground indicates a “Jean Matthew (aunt of P.M.)”, who died 1847 aged 88. The tree (gd316_16_26_00002_pm_immediatefamilytree2.jpg) indicates a “Jane Matthew” as an aunt of PM. In Scotland “Jane” and “Jean” are fully interchangeable (see here). Likewise, in Scotland “Peter” and “Patrick” are also considered interchangeable (see here), which presumably explains the identity of “Peter Matthew, Esq. of Gourdiehill”, to whom the burial plot is registered.

gd316_16_1_00001_milton_pittendruch_genealogy.jpg

The immediate maternal family tree of Patrick Matthew can also be expanded by gd316_16_1_00001_milton_pittendruch_genealogy.jpg, which focuses on the connections between the “Milton of Forneth family” and the “Pittendruch family”. The first-cousin marriage between PM and Christian Nicol is shown in the bottom left. The tree suggests that Agnes and Euphemia may have been the only children of Alexander Duncan, which would have made PM’s marriage even more advantageous in terms of inheritance. However, the tree looks to be incomplete, so other siblings may have been left out. Indeed, the cover page (gd316_16_1_00002.jpg) specifically states: “Pittendruch Tree of Johnsons partly untrue”.

gd316_5_8_00001_euphemiaduncan_will_1859.jpg

The immediate maternal family tree of Patrick Matthew is also expanded by gd316_5_8_00001_euphemiaduncan_will_1859.jpg. This is the last will and testament of Euphemia Nicol née Duncan, mother of PM’s wife Christian Nicol and sister of PM’s mother Agnes. The document confirms and expands details given in Wulf Gerdts’ Matthew Saga, namely that Christian Nicol had three brothers Alexander, George and James, a sister Charlotte who married Thomas Anderson, and another sister Agnes Nicol who appears to have been very religious (see gd316_12_1_1_00001_agnesnicol_godlyletter.jpg, gd316_12_1_2_00001_agnesnicol_godlyletter.jpg and gd316_12_1_3_00001_agnesnicol_godlyletter.jpg). Interestingly, the Will also states (gd316_5_8_00002.jpg) that Euphemia Duncan’s “only other surviving daughter Mrs Christian Nicol or Matthew wife of Patrick Matthew of Gourdiehill” will not given a part of the Estate because “her said husband [PM] is a claimant along with me of part of the succession of the said deceased George Johnston Lindsay and she and her family are thereby adequately provided for”. Indeed, an addendum to the Will (gd316_5_8_00004.jpg) states that should any of Euphemia’s heirs “succeed in their own right or otherwise to any part or portion of the heritable or real Estate of the deceased George Johnston Lindsay” then such heirs are to be excluded from her Will. This suggests the Estate of George Johnston Lindsay must have been substantial. The Will (gd316_5_8_00001_euphemiaduncan_will_1859.jpg) states that George Johnston Lindsay is “of Kedlock”. gd316_16_1_00001_milton_pittendruch_genealogy.jpg indicates several George Johnston’s, including one (bottom left of tree) who is “of Kirkforthar & of Kedlock”.

Higher up on gd316_16_7_00001_matthew_duncan_oliphant_genealogy1.jpg is noted the marriage (undated) of PM’s father John Matthew to “Agnes Duncan of Gourdie Hill”. Above that is noted the marriage (1760) of PM’s maternal grandparents – “Alexander Duncan of Gourdie Hill” and “Margaret Anderson daughter of Patrick Anderson merchant of Erroll.”

gd316_16_7_00002_matthew_duncan_oliphant_genealogy2.jpg

gd316_16_7_00002_matthew_duncan_oliphant_genealogy2.jpg continues the Duncan line further back, through Francis Duncan (married 1711), George Duncan (married 1686) and “Peter Duncane” (1637) to “Robert Duncane”, for whom two marriages are recorded. The first (in 1614) to “Jenat Duncan daughter of Andro Duncan” and the second (in 1634) to “Christane Olyphant widow of Hew Lyell sometime in Carpow and sister to Lawrence Olyphant of Pitcaithly”. In an interesting twist, Peter Duncane is recorded as marrying (1637) “Lara Lyell daughter of Hew Lyell and Christane Olyphant”. However, this is a not an incestuous half-sibling marriage but rather a step-sibling marriage, because it happens only 3 years after the marriage of Christane to Robert Duncane, so Peter must therefore be the son of Robert and Jenat Duncan. Peter’s marriage to Lara Lyell is therefore important, because it is via Lara Lyell that the Matthew bloodline can presumably be traced back to Robert the Bruce. The document ends with a record of Robert Duncane’s father Peter Duncane (married 1584), and of his father John Duncane. The male-line Duncans and Duncanes are all declared to be “of Gourdie Hill”.

The link to Robert the Bruce is contained in the “Genealogie of the Lords Oliphant as it was written in the Castell of Duplin”, provided by Euphemia Matthew to Millar (1890) and also listed in GD316/10. Unfortunately, no dates are provided, but the genealogy notes the marriage of Sir Walter Oliphant to a daughter of “King Robert brucis”. Among the descendants are several called “Lawrence Lord Oliphant” or “Lawrence Master of Oliphant”, and one of these Lawrences is perhaps the “Lawrence Olyphant of Pitcaithly” who is referred to in gd316_16_7_00002_matthew_duncan_oliphant_genealogy2.jpg. Further proof of the Matthew connection to Robert the Bruce is apparently contained in the unpublished booklet The Matthew Ancestors written by Wulf Gerdts in collaboration with his father and grandfather in 1991. The booklet is mentioned in Wulf Gerdts’ unpublished Matthew Saga.

Calman (1912) noted: “The family tradition alluded to by Professor May, according to which the Matthews are descended from a sister of Robert Bruce, is declared by Miss [Euphemia] Matthew to be quite without foundation”. This is puzzling. How could Euphemia not know about the Robert the Bruce connection? Or, if she knew about it, how could she declare that it was “quite without foundation”? To be sure, the connection is actually direct to Robert the Bruce, not via his sister, but to declare it to be “quite without foundation” is odd. Was she winding Calman up? Had she taken a disliking to Calman (who appeared less than friendly to Matthew in a private letter)? Was Calman being obtuse? The mystery remains.

Calman (1912) also noted: “[Patrick Matthew’s] mother, Agnes Duncan, was related, though in what degree is not known, to the family of Admiral Duncan, the famous ancestor of the present Earl of Camperdown”. The relationship is still not known with 100% certainty, but notes on some possible links are provided by Howard Minnick here and here. See also “Naval connections”.

Inheritance of Gourdie Hill

Documents in GD316/17, many of which are in PM’s own spidery handwriting, reveal important information about how the possession of Gourdie Hill passed to Patrick Matthew (PM). In brief, PM inherited Gourdie Hill in 1825, upon the death of his mother Agnes Duncan.

1816. PM’s maternal grandfather Alexander Duncan dies. It appears that possession of Gourdie Hill at this time passed on to Duncan’s daughter Agnes, mother of PM (see below). Perhaps there were no male heirs. Perhaps prompted by this,gd316_17_20_00001_discharge_euphemiamatthew1816.jpg is a document from Euphemia Matthew, PM’s sister, allowing all her legal responsibilities to be transferred to PM. The document is titled “Discharge. Mrs Euphemia Matthew and husband to Mrs Agnes Matthew and others”, and is dated 1816 (gd316_17_20_00004.jpg).

gd316_5_10_00001_agnesduncan_will_1825.jpg

1825. PM’s mother Agnes dies. Note that her year of death is incorrectly given as 1822 in Wulf Gerdts’ unpublished family history, the Matthew Saga. gd316_5_10_00001_agnesduncan_will_1825.jpg, dated 13th February 1825, is her last will and testament: “My son Patrick is to have the Lands of Gourdiehill that is arable as heritable property and the office houses which do belong to them”. PM is to pay his three surviving sisters, Margaret, Euphemia and Jane (Jean), £200 each in lieu. To his unmarried sisters, Margaret and Jane, while they remain unmarried, he is to pay 6 bolls of oat meal per year, to provide a cow and garden grounds for their use, to give four firlots of fruit from the orchard per season, and to allow them a horse to travel to Perth four times a season (PM’s sister Euphemia was by this time married to her cousin Thomas Matthew and living in Paddington, London). PM gets the dining table and “a dozen of the newest made chairs” and a looking glass, while the rest of the furniture goes to the unmarried daughters. The “unmade linen” goes to all three daughters equally, along with any other “money which belongs to me by bond or heritable security”. The mansion house, recently built at Gourdiehill, belongs to all the family, and shares are to be divided according to their original share of money provided to build it. Disputes and “any family differences” are to be dealt with by Capt. John Gardiner and his brother James.

References to timber

gd316_17_1_3_00002_accounts1824_wood_timber.jpg

One mystery regarding Patrick Matthew is where might he have acquired his expertise in the growing and tending of forest trees for use in shipbuilding (as reflected in his 1831 book)? His estate at Gourdie Hill was relatively small (see Matthew Jr (1885-06-16)), and was given over to orchards and farming, so where was the room for arboriculture? A small piece of evidence is provided in gd316_17_1_3_00002_accounts1824_wood_timber.jpg, which is the second page of a set of accounts for 1824, written in Patrick Matthew’s handwriting. The accounts describe sums of money lent to Matthew, and the consequent interest owed. The second page describes the interest owed on goods that Matthew must have bought on loan, including wheat, barley and grain. Note that Matthew is described as a “grain dealer” when he goes bankrupt in 1848, which suggests that Matthew was making money from the buying and selling of produce, and not just from farming. In addition to wheat, barley and grain, Matthew records interest owed on “Dalguise wood”, “Highland timber” and “[?] & Gask timber”. I can’t make out “[?]”, but Dalguise and Gask are both forested locations in Perthshire. Could these be locations where Matthew acquired his expertise in arboriculture?

(2016-09-23) Joachim D. suggests that the “[?]” above may be “Imrie’s” (he also notes that “Gask” may be “Gask’s”). “Imrie” is a Scottish surname, and there are several place-names associated with the name, including Imrie House in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire.

Naval connections

Another question regarding Patrick Matthew’s 1831 book is why did he make it about the application of timber to shipbuilding, as opposed to some other angle? Did he simply see shipbuilding as evidently the most important field of application, allowing Britain to maintain its role as ruler of the waves and civiliser of the world (as he argues in his Introduction), or was there some other formative reason for why Matthew admired the British navy? Howard Minnick (see here) has suggested that there may have been a personal connection between Matthew and Admiral Adam Duncan (1731-1804), a renouned naval hero. Calman (1912) notes that the two were thought to be related “though in what degree is not known”. Minnick proposes that Matthew’s great-great grandfather George Duncan was Admiral Duncan’s uncle. Minnick further suggests that Matthew inherited Gourdiehill from Admiral Duncan (see here).

There is no evidence in what’s been uncovered in GD316 so far to support the idea that Admiral Duncan and Patrick Matthew knew each other personally, nor that Admiral Duncan was at any time involved in the estate of Gourdiehill. However, there is evidence to support the idea that there was a history of involvement with the British navy in the branch of the Duncan family who were Matthew’s direct ancestors, and that this history of involvement was respected. This is because letters pertaining to that involvement were preserved within the Duncan family records that were passed on to the Matthew family, and form part of GD316. Specifically, GD316/11 records the existence of letters recounting “Letters to Francis Duncan of Gourdiehill, mainly from his son Patrick Duncan, a ship’s surgeon. Including: account of Patrick’s first joining a ship, of a break-out by blacks from a factory on the Guinea Coast, and of shipwreck, 1734-40; three letters from his son Alexander Duncan, a seaman, referring to activity of press-gang”. See also gd316_16_2_00001_duncan_letters_notes.jpg and gd316_16_2_00002.jpg, which appear to be an index of these letters. The extent to which this may have influenced Patrick Matthew remains unknown, however.

Cholera epidemic

gd316_17_23_1_00001_accounts1832_cholera.jpg

gd316_17_23_1_00001_accounts1832_cholera.jpg is a letter describing the cholera epidemic that swept through Scotland in 1832. Unfortunately it’s not clear who the writer or the addressee are. The handwriting is not Patrick Matthew’s. However, the letter refers to “mother’s share” of the “moveable effects at Gourdie hill”, so perhaps the writer is one of PM’s sisters. The writer notes: “You will be well satisfied of having gone south as the cholera does not seem inclined to travel in that direction – we expect it in Perth & Dundee daily and have resolved to start for [?]-mouth as soon as it arrives – it is very deadly round Edinburgh & has shewn itself deadly contagious.”

In 1909, a retrospective by a friend of Patrick Matthew recalls: “There were also stories about Mr. Matthew at the time of the epidemic of cholera 60 years ago, how he took fright and went off to live in a travelling van to escape from the plague. Probably all such stories had little or no foundation in fact.”

GD316/6

GD316/7

Legal and other papers, including: Letter of presentation by Thomas Hay of Balhousie of George Moncreiffe his chamberlain to the chaplainry of Aberdagie, 2 Apr 1683; Agreement between the parties that the true intent of the above transaction was that the stipend should be available to the kirk session of Aberdagie for maintenance of a schoolmaster, 28 May 1683; apprentice indenture of Francis Duncan to William Read, merchant in Dundee, 9 Aug 1703. 1658-1835, 16 items.

GD316/8

Bonds and discharges, including discharges for feu and tack duties, and including: papers relating to a mortification by Mr Samuel Nairn, in his wife’s name, to the kirk session of Erroll and a bond granted by George Duncan in seaside thereon, 1697. 1587-1717, 44 items.

GD316/9

Papers mainly relating to Francis Duncan of Gourdiehill, his eldest son Alexander and younger son Andrew, brewer in Dundee, 1760-91, but also concerning earlier members of the family in Seaside and Gourdiehill. 1714-1791, 28 items.

GD316/10

Miscellaneous papers (mainly tacks), mainly relating to the Duncan family. Including: acrostic on names of Master James Duncan and Marjorie Pay, with respectful Latin letter to him on regaining his health, 17 Oct 1650; copy Remonstrance by the Committee of Estates to the gentlemen, commanders and ministers attending the forces in the West, 1650; two copies of Wariston’s speech from the scaffold, 22 July 1663; inventory of the biggins of Seaside (house of hall, kitchen and several chambers; a house ‘of three trees’ at the west side of the close, also stable, byres, swine house, barn and peise barn, and several cottar or like houses), with estimate (in bolls meal) for repair; page of court book of Alexander Duncan of Lundie, 7 July 1709; inventory of evidents of houses of Robert Duncan in Kirktoun of Erroll, held by him of Northesk, c.1706; ‘The Genealogie of the Lord Oliphant as it was written in the castell of Duplin’ [17 cent.]; disposition of a seat in Aberdagie church, 3 Oct. 1691; list of the ‘barron trees’ on the lands of Gourdiehill, 6 June 1701; copy or draft letter as to the effects of George Duncan, Jamaica, 1763; [Hay of] Balhousie’s letter to Mr James Duncan ‘anent the making of Thomas Keltie’s compts after his death’, 15 Feb 1679; notebook of scriptural computation by Andrew Duncan, 1698, containing lock of hair; ‘List of poll money upon the lands of Seasyde [Seaside], Achinvy and Gourdiehill in the parish of Erroll belonging to the laird of Lundie’ [1696]. 1650-[1870], 29 items.

GD316/11

Letters to Francis Duncan of Gourdiehill, mainly from his son Patrick Duncan, a ship’s surgeon. Including: account of Patrick’s first joining a ship, of a break-out by blacks from a factory on the Guinea Coast, and of shipwreck, 1734-40; three letters from his son Alexander Duncan, a seaman, referring to activity of press-gang (War of Austrian Succession) and enquiring (June 1746) about a report that 20,000 men had landed in Scotland with the Pretender, 1744-6; letters from James Johnston, London, concerning his third son, Francis, 1739; letters from Patrick Johnston, Auchterhouse, on legal and estate affairs, 1731. 1731-1746, 21 items.

GD316/20

Photocopies of papers from the above bundles and from others not now in the collection. Including Confirmation by Roger, bishop elect of St Andrews, to Galfrid de Pert of the church of Rossinclerach (with seal), quoted by Laing as being in General Hutton’s collection and dated 1188. Note that typescripts of this item, and that of a letter by J W Smith, Camp Pratt, 1863 (see GD316/15) are not accurate. List of ‘Sundry letters and other papers, Duncan Archives’. 20th Century.

GD316/21

Correspondence (4 letters) of the Rev. William Hulbert in connection with the documents – with old lists and notes concerning the documents. 1955-1964.